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HISTORY 



idTdhgd cfflanument ^ssacuitiatL 



PREPARED BY 



WILLIAM L. STONE, 

Secretary of the Association. 



ALBANY: 
JOEL MUNSELL. 

18 Y9. 






By tranafto 

JAN 15 \m 




OFFICERS 



SARATOGA MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. 

President, 

HORATIO SEYMOUR, Utica, N. Y. 

Vice-Presidents, 

JAMES M. MARVIN, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 

JOHN WATTS DePEYSTER, New York city. 

Secretary, 

WILLIAM L. STONE, New York city. 

Corresponding Secretary, 

ED. W. B. CANNING, Stockbridge, Mass. 

Treasurer, 

DANIEL A. BULLARD, Schuylerville, N. Y. 

STANDING COMMITTEES. 

Committee on Design, 
William L. Stone, Charles H. Payx, John H. Starin, 
Edward F. Bullard, Algernon S. Sullivan, William J. 
Bacon, E. W, B. Canning. 

Comynittee on Location, 
Stephen D. Kirk, Joel Munsbll, Horatio Rogers. 

Building Coinmittee, 
Charles H. Payn, P. C. Ford, William L. Stone. 

Executive Com,mittee, 
James H. Kelly, J. M. Marvin, Daniel A. Bullard, David 

F. Ritchie. 

Advisory Committee, 
Edward F. Bullard, Saratoga Springs; P. C. P^'ord, Schuyler- 
ville, N. Y.; William J. Bacon, Utica, N. Y.; B. W. 
Throckmorton, New York city; Algernon S. Sullivan, 
New York city. 



Officers. 



TRUSTEES. 

HoKATio Seymour, William J. Bacon, Utica, N. Y, 

James M. Marvin, Charles H. Payn, Edward F. Bullard, 

David F. Ritchie, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
William L. Stone, John Watts De Peyster, Algernon S. 

Sullivan, B. W. Throckmorton, New York city. 
Daxiel a. Bullard, P. C. Ford, H. Clay Homes, Schuyler- 

ville, N. Y. 

Leroy Mowry, Greenwich, N. Y. 

Asa C. Tefft, Fort Miller, N. Y. 

Charles W. Mayhew, Victory Mills, N. Y. 

E. R. MuDGE, Boston, Mass. 

Ed. W. B. Canning, Stockbridge, Mass. 

Webster Wagner, Palatine Bridge, N. Y, 

James H. Kelly, Rochester, N. Y. 

Giles B. Slocum, Trenton, Mich. 

Benson J. Lossing, Dover Plains, N. Y. 

Joel Munsell, John M. Read, Lemon Thomson, Albany, 

N. Y. 
Stephen D. Kirk, Charleston, S. C. 
Horatio Rogers, Providence, R. I. 




HISTORY 



SARATOGA MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, 



The battles of Bemis Heights and of Saratoga (Stillwater'), 
and the surrender of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne, on the 
17th of October, 1777, formed a niche in the Temple of Liberty 
which Patriotism will one day fill with an appropriate monu- 
ment. Actuated by this sentiment, on the 17th of October, 
1856, John A. Corey, George Strover, and other patriotic gentle- 
men, met at the old Schuyler mansion in Schuylerville, N. Y., 
and discussed the preliminary steps to be taken in the matter. 
On this occasion, Alfred B. Street delivered a poem ; a banquet 
was given, and a celebration on a small scale held.- The 
result of this meeting was the organization, in 1859, by Hamil- 
ton Fish, Horatio Seymour, John A. Corey, Peter Gansevoort, 
and others, of the Saratoga Mon^ument Association, under a 
perpetual charter from the state of New York, whose object 
was the erection of a fitting memorial on the site of Bur- 
goyne's surrender. 

The original board consisted of fourteen permanent trustees 
or directors, as follows : George Strover, William Wilcox and 
Henry Holmes, of old Saratoga ; James M. Marvin, John A. 

' The actions of the 19th of September and the 7th of October, though 
fought substantially upon the same ground, and a mile from Bemis 
Heights, in the town of Stillwater, have always been known respectively 
as the battles of " Bemis Heights" and of " Saratoga," or " Stillwater." 

"On the same day, a meeting of the soldiers of the war of 1812, was 
held, to consult about their pensions and celebrate the surrender of Bur- 
goyne. 



6 History of the 

Corey, and Jas. M. Cook, of Saratoga Springs; Leroy Mowry and 
Asa C. Tefft, of the county of Washington; Peter Gansevooit, 
of Albany; Hamilton Fish, of New York; Phillip Schuyler, of 
Westchester; George W. Blecker, of Brooklyn, and Horatio 
Seymour, of Utica. Upon the death of Mr. Blecker in 1860, 
Benson J. Lossing, of Poughkeepsie, was chosen to fill the 
vacant place. Soon after the Association was incorporated, the 
following organization was perfected : 

Trustees and Officers. 

Hamilton Fish, New York city, president; Phillip Schuyler, 
Pelham P. O., N. Y., vice-president; James M. Marvin, Sara- 
toga Springs, N. Y., treasurer; John Romeyn Brodhead, New 
York city, corresponding secretary; John A. Corey, Saratoga 
Springs, secretary; Horatio Seymour, Utica, N. Y. ; Benson J, 
Lossing, New York city; Peter Gansevoort, Albany, N. Y. ; 
James M. Cook, Ballston Spa, N. Y.; Edward C. Delavan, 
Ballston Centre, N. Y. ; William Wilcox, Schuylerville ; Henry 
Holmes, Corinth, N. Y.; Asa C. Tefft, Fort Miller, N. Y.; 
Leroy Mowry, Greenwich, N. Y. 

The trustees held several meetings, and selected the spot 
upon which to erect the monument. But the breaking out of 
the civil war in 1861 cast such a gloom over the whole country, 
and taxed the patriotic energies of the people to such an extent, 
that the movement to build the monument was suspended up 
to the year 1872, during which time several of the original 
trustees had died. In the early autumn of that year, however, 
Mr. Corey, one of the most efficient of the trustees, took the 
matter up and pushed it earnestly. 

The first section of the act of the Legislature of the State of 
New York, passed April 19, 1859, chap. 498, laws of 1859, read 
as follows: 

Sec. I. George Strover, William Wilcox, and their associ- 
ates shall be a body corporate and politic, by the name and 
style of the Saratoga Monument Association, for the purpose 
of taking and holding sufficient real and personal property to 
erect, on such spot in the town of Saratoga, and as near the 



Saratoga Monument Association. 7 

place where Burgoyne surrendered the British army, as a 
majority of the trustees hereinafter named shall deem practica- 
ble, a monument commemorative of the battle which ended in 
Burgoyne's surrender, on the seventeenth day of October, 
seventeen hundred and seventy-seven. 

Section four of this act named the first board of trustees; 
but, owing to the exertions of Mr. Corey, it was amended by 
the Legislature April 30, 1873, as follows: 

Sec. IV. The first board of trustees shall consist of Hamilton 
Fish and William L. Stone, of the city of New York; Horatio 
Seymour, of Utica; Benson J. Lossing, of Poughkeepsie ; 
Asa C. Tefft, of the town of Fort Edward; Leroy Mowry, of 
the town of Greenwich ; James M. Marvin and John A. Corey, 
of Saratoga Springs, and Charles H. Payn, of " Saratoga." 

Dr. Charles H. Payne and others (Mr. Corey having died), 
now went vigorously to work; and in the spring of 1874, the 
Legislature, owing in a large measure to the exertions of 
Hoi-atio Seymour and George S. Batcheller, seconded by Smith 
Weed and Bradford L. Prince, voted an appropriation toward 
the erection of the monument in the following form (laws of 
18Y4, chap. 323, page 387): 

" Whenever it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the 
comptroller of the state, that the Saratoga Monument Associa- 
tion has fixed and determined upon a plan for a monument, to 
be erected at Schuylerville, Saratoga county, in commemora- 
tion of the battle of Saratoga, and tliat it will not cost to 
exceed five hundred thousand, nor less thau two hundred thous- 
and dollars, to erect and complete such monument upon such 
plan, and that the Association has received and paid over to the 
treasurer from private subscriptions and donations, made by 
the United States or state governments of states, at least a 
suflicient sum, with the amount hereby specified, to complete 
said monument upon such plans, tlien the state of New York 
will pay and contribute by ai)propriation of the public moneys, 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars to aid in the construction of 
such monument, and the faith of the state is hereby pledged 
to such purpose upon such conditions. The plans and estimates 



8 History OF the 

of the cost of said monument aforesaid, shall be submitted to 
and be approved by the governor and comptroller of this 
state, and the comptroller of this state is hereby made the 
treasurer of said Monument Association. The plan so fixed 
and adopted as aforesaid, shall not thereafter be changed with- 
out the consent of the governor and comptroller, nor so as to 
increase the cost of said monument." 

At the same time, the secretary of the Association foi'warded 
petitions to the Legislatures of the original thirteen states ask- 
ing for |5,000 from each ; but, with the exception of Rhode 
Island, which promised that sum conditionally, no favorable 
response was obtained. The following memorial to Congress 
was also drawn up by the " Committee on Design: " 



MEMORIAL. 



To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States : 

Ninety-six years ago to day — the 17tli of October, 1777 — Burgoyne sur- 
rendered on the plains of Saratoga, and with that event closed the most 
important chapter of the American Revolution. 

The elaborate preparation and sending forth of the finest army that ever 
left the shores of England ; the arrogant proclamations that heralded its 
approach ; the successful advance ; the terror inspired by its savage allies ; 
the early consternation and discomfiture of the colonists ; the subsequent 
rally of desperation ; the indecisive conflict of September 17th ; the dis- 
astrous defeat of the Briton October 7th, all culminated at Schuylerville 
in the capitulation of his entire army and the hosannas of the nation on 
its glorious deliverance. This event secured for us the French alliance, 
and lifted the cloud of moral and financial gloom that had settled upon 
the hearts of the people, dampening the hopes of the leaders of the Revo- 
lution, and wringing despairing words even from the hopeful Washing- 
ton. From that auspicious day, belief in the ultimate triumph of American 
liberty never abandoned the nation tiil it was realized and sealed, four 
years later, almost to a day, in the final surrender at Yorktown. 

Almost a century has elapsed since that illustrious event. All the actors 
in the great drama have passed away, and their descendants are now shar- 
ing xA the rewards of their devotion and suffering. And yet no monument 



Saratoga Mokument Association. 9 

has risen to commemorate that turning point of our national destiny. 
Lexington and Bunker Hill have their imposing memorials to tell of the 
earliest bloodshed in the cause of Cisatlantic freedom, and, in our own day, 
the self consecration of Antietam and Gettysburg are made enduring in 
granite records for the admiration of generations yet to be. The purpose 
is noble, the tribute deserved ; for every such memorial stands as an edu- 
cator to gratitude and patriotism. And here your petitioners base a claim 
for a like memento upon the field of Burgoyne's surrender. 

Actuated by these sentiments, in 1859 Hamilton Fish, Horatio Seymour, 
John A. Corey, and other patriotic gentlemen organized the Saratoga 
Monument Association under a perpetual charter from the state of New 
York, whose object was the erection of a fitting memorial on the site of 
Burgoyne's surrender. Toward this considerable progress had been made, 
when the outbreak of the war of the rebellion and the decease of several 
of the original trustees checked all further j^roceedings. Recently, how- 
ever, the project has been revived, and the Legislature of New York at 
its last session granted an amended charter. 

At the present time the several committees of the organization are work- 
ing diligently and harmoniously ; a plan for the monument by a com- 
petent architect has been submitted and approved, and funds alone are 
wanting to execute the design. It is proposed to make the structure 
worthy of the pride of the nation. It will be generally of the obelisk 
form, eighty feet square at the base, and ten feet at the summit, and two 
hundred and thirty feet in height ; accessible to its top ; containing con- 
veniences for the erection of commemorative and historical tablets, the 
exhibition of relics from the battle-fields, including (it is hoped) some of 
the captured cannon, and niches for bronzes representing some of the 
prominent actors in the great event. 

The plan contemplates an outlay, for the monument proper and bronzes 
of $300,000. 

The committee earnestly request of your honored body the appropriation 
of the sum of two hundred thousand dollars so as to enable them to 
accomplish this patriotic enterprise to the credit of the American people. 

In view of the near approach of the centennial of our national independ- 
ence, it is exceedingly desirable that what is done in referrence to this 
structure should be done speedily that its dedication may be added to the 
anticipated renown of that commemorative year. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

William L. Stone, 
Chakles H. Payn, 
E. W. B. Canning, 
James M Marvin, 

LeROY MoViTRY, 

New York City, October 17, 1873. Committee on Design. 

2 



10 History of the 

This memorial was forwarded to the member of Congress 
from the Saratoga district; but thinking the time was not 
auspicious, the latter did not present it. 

In the early sirring of the centennial year (1877), the above 
mentioned appropriation of $50,000 by the Legislature, having 
lapsed by law — more than two years having passed since it 
was given — a petition to the Legislature of New York to 
grant such aid as would ensure the laying of the corner stone 
of the proposed monument on the approaching centennial anni- 
versary of the surrender, was prepared and signed by members 
of the Monument Association, and by a large number of the 
most prominent men in Saratoga and Washington counties. 
This petition read as follows: 



" To the Honorable Senate and Assembly of the State of New York : 

" Your memorialists, members of the Saratoga Monument Association, 
respectfully represent that in their humble opinion, considerations of high 
patriotic duty should prompt the people of this state to commemorate the 
centennial anniversary of the great victory of the American arms at Sara- 
toga, by ceremonies appropriate to thfe august occasion, and paramount to 
all other services, they think should be the laying of the corner stone of the 
contemplated monument as a testimonial of their appreciation of those 
great events to succeeding generations. 

" Your predecessors, three years since, appropriated $50,000 for this pur- 
pose, conditional, however, on the additions by private subscription of 
$100,000 more. This, from the financial derangement of the country, more, 
as is hoped, than from apathy toward the object, your petitioners have 
been unable to obtain, but unwilling that this centennial year should 
elapse without a proper recognition, by the people of the state, of the 
supreme importance of the Saratoga campaign, on the establishment of 
American independence, they would earnestly entreat that your honorable 
body would favor the purpose of the Monument Association, by the appro- 
priation of such funds as shall be requisite to enable your petitioners to 
carry out the contemplated memorial." 

As it was impossible to circulate a petition throughout the 
state, D. S. Pottei-, Esq., on behalf of the local committee of 
Schuylerville, to aid the purpose of the Monument Association, 
addressed letters to a large number of influential men in various 



Saratoga Monument Association. 11 

parts of the state, to obtain their views on the subject, and if 
meeting their approval, to secure their cooperation in this 
patriotic movement. The answers to these letters showed that 
there was an earnest desire throughout the state tliat the 
patriotic duty of erecting a -Qtting memorial to mark the sur- 
render of Burgoyne should no longer be delayed. 

By way of seconding this petition, one of the vice-presidents 
of the Saratoga Monument Association, Hon. J. V. L. Pruyn, 
and its secretary, appeared before the committee of ways and 
means, and asked for an appropriation sufficient at least to con- 
struct the foundation of an appropriate monument and to fit- 
tingly celebrate the laying of its corner stone. This committee 
generously responded; acting upon their recommendation, the 
Legislature voted 110,000 for this object. Governor Robinson, 
however, whose veto power has been exercised solely according 
to his own will — whether eccentrically or not, his motives are 
not impugned — vetoed the bill. All that was left the Associa- 
tion, therefore, was to issue an appeal to the patriotic people 
throughout the state, asking for aid. This appeal, considering 
the times, met with a comparatively generous response in 
money and material, by which the Association were enabled to 
lay the foundation of the moimment and the corner-stone, 
together with one fourth of the plinth, or base. 

Since the passage of the act of 18V4, Mr. Corey and Chan- 
cellor Pruyn have died, and several other gentlemen of well 
known standing have been elected trustees. The trustees of 
the Association, therefore, at the present time (1878) are as 
follows : Horatio Seymour, William J. Bacon, Utica, N. Y. ; 
James M. Marvin, Charles H. Payn, Edward F. Bullard, David 
F. Ritchie, Saratoga Springs, N. Y.; William L. Stone, Gen, J. 
Watts De Peyster, Algernon S. Sullivan, B. W. Throckmorton, 
New York city ; Daniel A. Bullard, P. C. Ford, H. Clay 
Homes, Charles W.-Mayhew, Schuylerville, N. Y, ; Leroy 
Mowry, Greenwich, N. Y. ; Asa C. Tefl:t, Fort Miller, N. Y. ; 
E. R. Mudge, Boston, Mass. ; E. W. B. Canning, Stockbridge, 
Mass.; Fi-ank Pruyn, Mechanicsville, N. Y. ; Webster Wagner, 
Palatine Bridge, N. Y. ; James H. Kelly, Rochester, N. Y. ; 



12 History of the 

Giles B. Slocum, Trenton, Mich. ; Benson J. Lossing, Dover 
Plains, N. Y. ; Gen. John M. Read, Joel Munsell, Lemon 
Thomson, Albany, N. Y.; Gen. Stephen D. Kirk, Charleston, 
S. C. ; Horatio Rogers, Providence, R. I. 

At the annual meeting of the Association, held in the par- 
lors of the United States Hotel, at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., on 
the 1st of August, 1877, it was resolved to invite the Grand 
Lodge of the state of New York to lay the corner stone of the 
monument, at the ai)proaching centennial of Burgoyne's sur- 
render, on the 17th of the following October. The following 
correspondence then followed : 

New York City, September 7, 1877. 
J. J. Couch, G. M. State of JVeio York : 

My Dear Sir : 'I'he citizens of Schuylerville, N. Y., have requested the 
Saratoga Monument Association to invite the Grand Master and Grand 
Lodge of the state of New York, to lay the corner stone of the Saratoga 
Monument, to commemorate the surrender of General Burgoyne, on the 
17th of October next. 

I need not say, sir, in being the instrument of conveying this invitation, 

hovF much pleasure it would give the Saratoga Monument Association to 

have this invitation accepted ; and if you could make it convenient, your- 

* 
self, to attend and perform this august ceremony, it would, doubtless, 

gratify not only the masons in the immediate vicinity, but the fraternity 

throughout the United States. 

Washington, who, through Schuyler, planned the campaign which won 
the battle of Saratoga, was a Mason ; and, therefore, aside from the respect 
which we pay to living Masons, we pay — and you, sir, pay in this 
also — homage to the memory of one of its greatest and most revered 
members. 

No expense, permit me to add, will be suffered to be incurred by the 

Grand Lodge while our guests. Hoping for a favorable reply, I remain 

respectfully yours, 

William L. Stone, 

Sec'y Saratoga Monument Association. 



New York, September 14, 1877. 
Wm. L. Stone, Esq., Secretary of the Saratoga Monument Association: 

My Dear Sir : I have received your letter of invitation, conveying the 
wish of the good people of Schuylerville and your associates, that the cor- 



Sakatoga Monument Association. 13 

ner stone of the " Saratogra Monument " should be laid by the Grand Mas- 
ter of Masons in the state of New York ; and, that this service should be 
performed on the 17lh of October, prox., in connection with the celebration 
of the centennial of Burpjoyne's surrender. 

Your cordial invitation is cheerfully accepted ; and, in company with the 
officers of the Grand Lodge of New York, I will attend at the appointed 
time and place, prepared to perform the ceremony of laying the corner- 
stone, in "ample form," according to the time-honored usages of our fra- 
ternity. Right Worshipful John C. Boak, Grand Marshal, will take 
charge of the preliminary arrangements on the part ol' the Grand Lodge. 

Address No. 8, Fourth Avenue, New York city. 

Very respectfully yours, 

J. J. Couch, Orand Master. 

Accordingly, a procession, two miles in length, and forming 
the most splendid civic, masonic and military pageant ever 
witnessed in northern New York, marched to the site of the 
monument, where, in the presence of. forty thousand people, 
the corner stone was laid by the Grand Master in "due and 
ancient form," the latter delivering on the occasion an unusually 
impressive address. Upon the conclusion of the Grand Mas- 
ter's address, the Grand Secretary read a list of the articles 
deposited within tlie corner stone. These are the following: 

List of Articles Deposited Within the Corner Stone op the 
Saratoga Monument, Oct. 17, 1877. 

A history of the Saratoga Monument Association by its secretary, Wm. 
L. Stone. 

A copy of the Bible, translated out of the original, presented by the Sar- 
atoga County Bible Society. 

Burgoyne's Campaign and St. Leger's Expedition by Wm. L. Stone. 

Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth's Visitors' Guide : Saratoga, the Battle and 
Battle-Grounds. 

A copy of Mrs. Willard's History, and an American flag, presented by 
R. N. Atwell. 

Gen. Schuyler anct Burgoyne's Campaign of 1777, being the annual 
address delivered by Gen. J. Watts DePeyster, before the New York His- 
torical Society of New York city. 

Saratoga County, an historical address by George G. Scott, and a Cen- 
tennial address by J. L. L'Amoreaux. 

Saratoga and Kay-ad-ros-se-ra, a centennial address by N. B. Sylvester. 



^ 



14 History of the 

The Burgoyne Campaign ; an address delivered on the battle-field on 
the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of Bemis Heights, Sept. 19tli, 
1877, by John Austin Stevens. 

History of Saratoga and the Burgoyne Campaign of 1777 ; an address 
by Gen. Edward F. Bullard. 

An address to the American people in behalf of a monument, to be 
erected in commemoration of the American army at Saratoga, under Gens. 
Schuyler, Gates, Arnold and Morgan, Oct. 17tii, 1777, by J. V. Markham. 

Leading industrial pursuits of Glen's Falls, Sandy Hill and Fort 
Edward, by J. S. Buckley. 

A silver half dollar coin of George III, dated 1777, and one of the 
United States, dated 1877, deposited by Alanson Welch, president of the 
village of Schuylerville. 

Memorial of the opening of the New York and Canada railway, pre- 
sented by Edward F. Bullard. 

Song, commemorative of the surrender of Burgoyne, arranged by Col. B. 
C. Butler, of Luzerne, N. Y. 

Annual Report of the canal commissioners of the state of New York. 

Records of Schuyler Lodge, .No. 176, F. and A. M., and Home Chapter, 
No. 176. R. A. M. 

A photograph of the monument from the architect's drawing. 

The cards of John and Samuel Mathews, and E. F. Simmons, the opera- 
tive masons who built the foundation, base and corner stone of the monu- 
ment. 

The architects' statement of the progress of the work of building the 
foundation, base and corner stone. Daniel A. Bullard in charge. 

Prospectus of the Bennington Battle Monument Association ; a forth- 
coming volume on the Bennington centennial of the week of the 16th of 
August, 1877. 

A pamphlet containing a statement of the Bennington Historical 
Society, and an account of the battle of Bennington, by ex-Gov. Hiland 
Hall, published in March, 1877. 

The Standard (daily), Schuylerville ; The Saratoga County Stand- 
ard (weekly), Schuylerville ; daily Saratogian, Saratoga Sun ; Troy 
Daily Press, Daily Press, Daily Whig, Northern Budget, Observer, Sunday 
Trojan, Troy, N. Y.; Argus, Press, Express, Journal, Times, Post, Albany, 
N. Y.; Herald, Times, Tribune, Sun, World, Express, New York city. 

« 



Saratoga Monument Association. 15 

The exercises which followed the laying of the comer stone, 
were of a high order of literary excellence, and fully in keep- 
ing with the august celebration which they were intended to 
commemorate. They were conducted in the following order: 

First Gea>-d Sta>'d. 

Music, DoEnfo's Ba>t). 

Prayer, Rev. Rufus W. Clabk, D.D., of Albany, Chaplain. 

Music, 

Introductory address by the President of the Day, 
Hex, Chart.f.s S. Lesteb. 

Music. 

Oration by Ex-Govebxob Hobatio Setmoub, 

Oration by Geoege William Cuetis. 

Music. 

Poem, by Alfeed B. Steeet, 

Read by Col. E. P. Howe, 

Music, 
Address by Hex. Lafayette S, Fostee. 

Seco>'u Geaxd Staxd. 

Music, Colt's AfiaiT Baxd, Hartford, Conn. 

Prayer, Rev. F. E. Kixg, of Fort Edward, X, Y., Chaplain, 

Music. 

Introductory address, Hon. Geo. W. Schuyler (in the absence 
of Gex, Edward F. BullabdJ, President of the Day. 

Music. 

Historical address by William L. Stoxe. 

Address by Hox. B. W. Thkockmobtox, of Xew .Jersey, 
Subject, Arnold, 



16 History of the 

Music. 

Fitz Green Halleck's Field of the Grounded Arms, read by 
Halleck's Biographer, Gen. James Grant Wilson. 

Addresses by Hon. A. A. Yates and H. L. Gladding. 

Ode by Gen. J. Watts DePeystee, 

Read by Rev. J. K. Van Doben. 

The Star Spangled Banner, arranged for the anniversary of 

Burgoyne's SiuTender by Col. B. C. Butler, 

Read by William L. Stone. 

Letters from Benson J.- Lossing, Mrs. Ellen H. Walworth, 
Giles B. Slocum, and Gen. Stephen D. Kirk, of Charles- 
ton, S. C, 

Read by Col. D. F. Ritchie. 

Short addresses by Hon. Algernon S. Sullivan and E. L. 

FUKSMAN. 

GRAND BANQUET. 

Brilliant Military spectacle representing the surrender of Bur- 
goyne's army. 

It is now proposed, whenever sufficient funds are raised, to 
make the structure (designed by J. C. Markham of New York 
city) of granite and of the obelisk form. The concrete founda- 
tion, forty feet square and eight feet deep, as well as a quarter 
of the granite plinth or base (covering the entire foundation), 
four and a half feet high, and the corner stone ten feet square 
and two feet high, are already completed. Upon this base the 
main shaft of the monument is to be twenty feet square, exclusive 
of buttresses, which project three feet on each side. The height 
is to be 150 feet. The interior, at the base, will be a room 
twelve feet square, floored with encaustic tile of original and 
historic design. The side walls are to be covered with historic 
tablets and bas-reliefs. The stairs ascending to the several 
floors are to be of bronze ; the doors, also, are to be of bronze, 



Saratoga Monument Association. 17 

the panels to be filled with original historical subjects, de- 
signed by such eminent artists as Launt Thompson, E. D. Palmer, 
J. Q. Ward, and J. C. Taylor. On the four corners of the 
platform are to be mounted four of the large and ornamental 
bronze cannons taken from the English at the time of the sur- 
render. Of the large niches in the four gables, three are to be 
filled with appropriate groups of sculpture in bronze represent- 
ing the three generals, Schuyler, Gates and Morgan, with their 
accessories, the fourth being vacant, with the word Arnold in- 
scribed underneath. The Association have obtained by purchase 
two acres of land near the entrance to Prospect Hill Cemetery, 
on which the foundation for the proposed monument has been 
built. The spot is directly west of the mouth of Fish creek on 
the high ground overlooking the alluvial meadow where the 
British laid down their arms. It is as near as can conveniently 
be placed to where the head quarters of Gates were situated, 
which witnessed the formal unfurling, for the first time, of the 
stars and sti'ipes.^ 

We close this sketch by the following letter from the archi- 
tect of the Association, which will show the progress that has 
been made up to the present time of writing, Dec. 1st, 1878. 

Architect's Statement. 

To the Building Committee of the Saratoga Monum.ent 
Association : 
Gentlemen : The foundation of the monument is built. It 
is of concrete, forty feet square and eight feet deep. One-quarter 



' It is true, that a flag, intended for tbe stars and stripes and made out 
of a wliite shirt and some bits of red cloth from the petticoat of a soldier's 
wife, first floated on captured standards on the ramparts of Port Stanwix, 
(Aug.) 5th, 1777, but the stars and stripes as we now see them — except as 
to the number of the stars — was first unfurled to grace the surrender at 
Saratoga. See Gen. J. Watts DePeyster's Justice to Schuyler. The Fort 
Stanwix flag is now in the possession of Mrs. Abraham Lansing of Albany, 
N. Y. 

It is worthy of note that while the ground was being broken, the archi- 
tect picked up two bullets within a foot of each other, and the workmen 
while making the excavations, dug up two cannon balls. 
3 



18 History of Saratoga Monument Association. 

of the granite plinth, or base, is also built. Daniel A. BuUard, 
of the executive committee, has been an efficient auxiliary in 
soliciting aid, purchasing material and employing labor to 
carry to successful completion the work required preparatory 
to laying the corner stone. Much of the labor and material 
has been donated by the inhabitants of the vicinity. The 
granite corner stone itself was presented to the Association by 
Booth Brothers, of New York, at a cost of $300. It is of 
Cape Ann granite. They also furnished, under contract, the 
granite used in building the quarter of the plinth. The blue 
stone was given by Mouta, of Sandy Hill. Tlie master mason 
employed was John Matthews. The detail drawings for the 
granite were made by William T. Markhara, in New York, the 
stone being cut partly in that city and partly at the quarry; 
shipped to New York, and there transferred to a^canal boat, 
taken to Schuylerville, and set without fitting or cutting. The 
work has progressed rapidly and without accident, and, to-day 
the corner stone is to be laid by the Ancient and Honorable 
Order of Free and Accepted Masons; the Grand Lodge of the 
state of New Yoi'k performing the ceremony. 

I herewith i'lclose a photograi)h, taken by Sipporly, of 
Schuylerville, which will give u definite idea of the present 
appearance of the work, with the cannon (a 24-pounder, taken 
from the British in 1813), presented by General J. Watts De 
Peyster, mounted on one of the four corners. The other three 
corners of the monument, when completed, as you are aware, 
are to be occupied by bronze cannon, taken at the surrender. 
Respectfully, 

J. C. Markham, Architect. 

Schuylerville, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1877. 



>Sii^S^ 





ENGRAVING TAKEN PROM THE PHOTOGRAPH REFERRED TO IN THE 
architect's LETTER, SHOWING THE PRESENT APPEARANCE OF THE 
MONUMENT, WITH THE CANNON PRESENTED BY GEN. DE PEY8TKR, 




DRESS 



HON. HORATIO SEYMOUR. 



One hundred years ago, on this spot, American Independence 
was made a great fact in the history of nations. Until the sur- 
render of the British army under Burgoyne, the DecLaration of 
Independence was but a declaration. It was a patriotic purpose 
asserted in bold words by brave men, who pledged for its main- 
tenance their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. But 
here it was made a fact, by virtue of armed foi'ce. It had been 
regarded by the world merely as an act of defiance, but it was 
now seen that it contained the germs of a government, which 
the event we celebrate made one of the powers of the earth. 
Here rebellion was made revolution. Upon this ground, that 
which had in the eye of the law been treason, became triumphant 
patriotism. 

At the break of day one hundred years ago, in the judgment 
of the world, our fathers were rebels against established autho- 
rity. When the echoes of the evening gun died away along 
this valley, they were patriots who had rescued their country 
from wrong and outrage. Until the surrender of the British 
army in this valley, no nation would recognize the agents of the 
continental congress. All intercourse with them was in stealthy 
ways. But they were met with open congratulations when the 
monarchs of Europe learned that the royal standards of Britain 
had been lowered to our flag. We had passed through the bap- 
tism of blood, and had gained a name among the nations of the 
earth. 

The value of this surrender was increased by the boastful and 
2 



4 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

dramatic display which had been made of British power. It 
had arrayed its disciplined armies ; it had sent its fleets ; it had 
called forth its savage allies, all of which were to move npon 
grand converging lines, not only to crnsh out the patriotic 
forces, but to impress Europe with its strength, and to check 
any alliances with the American government. It made them 
witnesses of its defeat when it thought to make them the judges 
of its triumph. The monarchs of Europe who watched the 
progress of tlie doubtful struggle, who were uncertain if it was 
more than a popular disturbance, now saw the action in its full 
proportions, and felt that a new power had sprung into exist- 
ence — a new element had entered into the diplomacy of the 
world. 

The interests excited in our minds by this occasion, are not 
limited to a battle fought, or an army captur-ed ; they reach 
even beyond the fact that it was a turning point of the revolu- 
tionary struggle. We are led to a consideration of a chain of 
events and of enduring aspects of nature, which have shaped 
our civilization in the past, and which now and throughout the 
future, will influence the fortunes of our country. Burgoyne 
did not merely surrender here an army, he surrendered the con- 
trol of a continent. Never in the world's history, was there a 
transfer of a territory so vast, and of influences so far reaching, 
as that made a century ago whm-e we now stand. 

We meet to-day to celebrate the surrender of Burgoyne, by 
appropriate ceremonies, and to lay the corner stone of a monu- 
ment which will commemorate not only that event, but every 
fact which led to that result. The reproach rests upon the 
United States, that while they stand in the front ranks of the 
powers of the earth, by virtue of their numbers, their vast do- 
mains and their progress in wealth and in arts, they give no 
proof to the eyes of the world that they honor their fathers or 
those whose sacrifices laid the foundations of their prosperity 
and greatness. We hope that a suitable structure here will tell 
all who look upon it that this was the scene of an occurrence un- 
surpassed in importance in military annals. And it will also 
show that a hundred years have not dimmed its lustre in our 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 5 

eyes, but that the light shed upon its significance by the lapse 
of time, has made deeper and stronger our gratitude to those 
who here served theii- country so well, and by their sacrifices 
and sufferings, achieved its independence and secured the 
liberties, the prosperity and greatness of the American people. 

All that throws light upon the scope and i^olicy of the de- 
signs of the British government are, on this day, proper topics 
for consideration. When we trace out the relationships which 
these designs bore to preceding occurrences ; and when we fol- 
low down their bearing upon the present and future of our 
country, we shall see that a suitable monument here will recall 
to all thoughtful minds the varied history of our country during 
tlie past two centuries. It will do more. For the enduring 
causes which have shaped the past, also throw light upon the 
future of our government, our civilization and our power. 

The occurrences which led to the surrender of the British 
army, have been appropriately celebrated. The great gather- 
ings of our people at Oriskany, at Bennington and at Bemis's 
Heights, show how this centennial of what has been well termed 
the year of battles, revives in the minds of the American peo- 
ple an interest in the history of the Revolution. These celebra- 
tions have tended to make our people wiser and better. It is 
to be hoped that they will be held on every battle field in our 
country. They will not only restore the patriotism of our people 
but they will teach us the virtues of courage and patient endur- 
ance. This is a time of financial distress and of business dis- 
order, and we have lost somewhat of our faith with regard to 
the future, and we speak in complaining tones of the evils of 
our day. But when we read again the history of the war for 
our independence ; when we hear the story of the sufferings of 
all classes of our citizens ; when we are reminded that our sol- 
diers endured from want, and nakedness, and hunger, as no 
pauper, no criminal suffers now ; when we think that the fears 
which agitated their minds were not those which merely con- 
cerned the pride of success, the mortification of failure, or 
the loss of some accustomed comfort, but they were the dread 
that the march of hostile ai-mies might drive their families from 
their homes, might apply the torch to their dwellings, or worse 



6 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

than this, expose their wives and children to the tomahawks 
and scalping knives of merciless savages, we blush at oiir com- 
plaints. In view of their dangers and sufferings, how light 
appear the evils of our day. 

But there is something more than all this to be gained by 
these celebrations. Before the Revolution the people of the 
several colonies held but little intercourse. They were estranged 
from each other by distance, by sectional prejudices, and by 
differences of lineage and religious creeds. The British go- 
vernment relied upon these prejudices and estrangements to 
prevent a cordial co(3peration among the colonists. But when 
the war began, when the men of Virginia hastened to Massa- 
chusetts to rescue Boston from the hands of the enemy and to 
drive th&m from New England ; when the men of the east and 
south battled side by side with those from the middle states, 
apd stood upon this spot as brothers to receive with a common 
pride and joy the standards of a conquered foe ; when Green 
and Lincoln went to the relief of the southern colonies all pre- 
judice not only died away, but more than fraternal love ani- 
mated every patriot heart from the bleak northernmost forests 
of New England to the milder airs of Georgia. And now that 
a hundred years have passed, and our country has become great 
beyond the wildest dreams of our fathers, will not the story of 
their sufferings revive in the breast of all the love of our coun- 
try, of our whole country, and all who live within its boundaries? 
Men of the east and men of the south, or you who can trace 
your lineage back'to those who served their country a century 
ago upon the soil of New York, we do not welcome you here 
as guests ; you stand here of right, by virtue of a heritage from 
our fathers, who on this ground were common actors in the 
crowning event of the war waged for the liberties, the glory, and 
the prosperity of all sections of our great country. 

At this celebration of the grand conclusion of the camjjaign 
of Burgoyne, we have a broader field of discussion than that of 
a battle, however stirring it may have been. The occasion calls 
not only for praise of heroic courage, not only for a deep in- 
terest in every statement showing the influence of its victories 
over the judgment of the world as to the strength of our cause, 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 7 

but also for its importance as one of the links in the chain of 
events reaching back more than two centuries, and which will 
continue to stretch down into the future far beyond the period 
when human thought or conclusions can be of value. 

Influence of the Topography of our Country. 

The speaker and others who have addressed the public with 
regard to American history, have made frequent references to 
the extent that it has been shaped by the topography of this 
part of our country. On this occasion it forces itself upon our 
attention, and we must again outline its relationship to events. 
We cannot, if we would, separate the design of the campaign 
of Burgoyne, nor the military aspects of its progress, from the 
character of the valleys through which its forces were moved, 
nor from the commanding jDositions at which it was aimed. Our 
mountains and rivers have been the causes of so many of the 
great facts in the history of this continent ; they are so closely 
identified with its political and social affairs, that they seem to 
become sentient actors in its events. We are compelled to 
speak of their bearings upon the course of war, of commerce 
and of civilization, to make a clear statement of the scope and 
significance of the events we celebrate. This cannot be given 
if we speak only of the things which relate to the British inva- 
sion of 1777, and of its signal defeat. 

Those who would learn the causes which have shaped the 
course of military and political affairs on this continent, which 
have given victory in war and prosperity in peace, must spread 
out before them the map of our country. Having traced its 
grand system of mountains, rivers and lakes, they will be struck 
with the fact that for a thousand miles the Alleghanies make 
long ranges of barriers between the Atlantic and the great 
plains of the interior. About mid-way of their lengths these 
lofty mountains are cut down to their bases by the gorge of the 
Hudson, through which the tides of the ocean pour their floods 
in triumph. Towering cliffs overshadow the deep waters of 
the river. Had but a single spur of those rocky buttresses 
which crowd upon either shore been thrown across the narrow 



8 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

chasm, had but one of the beetling cliffs which stand upon its 
brink been pushed but a few feet across its course, the currents 
of events would have been changed as completely as the cur- 
rents of the floods. The nations who controlled the outlets of 
the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence would have been the mas- 
ters of this continent. No one who has marked the physical 
character of our country, and who has studied its history, can 
pass through the highlands of the Hudson and note how at 
every turn of its stream the cliffs threaten to close its course, 
without feeling that the power which made the mountain chains 
to stop abruptl}^ at its brink, was higher than blind chance — 
something more than the wild, unreasoning action of convulsed 
nature. 

The valley of the Hudson does not end when it has led the 
ocean tides through the mountain passes. It stretches its 
channel northward to the St. Lawrence, and holds within its 
deep basin not only the Hudson flowing south, but Lake Cham- 
plain, which empties its waters into the ocean far north through 
the gulf of St. Lawrence. It thus not only connects the har- 
bor of New York with the basins of the great lakes, but by the 
Mohawk branch of the Hudson it has also channeled out another 
level passage, stretching westward to the plains watered by the 
confluents of the Mississippi. These valleys of the Hudson and 
Mohawk have been the pathways of armies in war and the 
routes of commerce in peace. They have been the highways 
through which the nations of Europe and the people of the At- 
lantic coast have poured their host of emigrants into the vast 
regions which stretch out from the Alleghanies to the base of 
the Rocky mountains. But nature did not stop in her work 
when she gave to the regions in which we meet advantages of 
deep valleys, making the easy communication from the sea coast 
to the interior of our country. From the outward slopes of 
highlands which guard these channels of intercourse, the waters 
flow by diverging valleys into almost every part of our Union. 
These highlands make, in many ways, the most remarkable 
watersheds to be found on the face of the earth. There is not 
elsewhere an instance where interlocking sources of rivers pur- 
sue courses diverging in so many directions, forming so many 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 9 

extending valleys, and at length find their outlets into the ocean 
at points so distant from each other, and from the headwaters 
on the ground where they had their common origin. For these 
reasons the valleys of the Hudson and the Mohawk, and the 
mountain strongholds which command them, have ever been 
the great central points of control in the wars of both civilized 
and savage races. Once when in company with General Scott, 
we overlooked from an elevated point the ground on which we 
stand and the confluence of these rivers, and the range of high- 
lands which marked their courses, the old wai'rior with a kind- 
ing eye, stretched out his arm and said : " Remember this has 
been the great strategic point in all the wars waged for the con- 
trol of this continent." 

The mountains and valleys of New York not only make 
channels for commerce in peace, but a grand system for defence 
and attack in war. They are nature's commanding works, 
which dwarf by comparison all human monuments of engineer- 
ing skill into insignificance. Their influence is most clearly 
shown by the power they gave to the Indian tribes who held 
them when Europeans first visited our continent. The rivers 
which flowed in all directions from their vantage ground on the 
highlands, first taught the Iroquois the advantages of united 
action, and led to the formation of their confederacy. Pouring 
their combined forces at different times into the valley of the 
Delaware, or of the Susqnehannah, or the Alleghany, they were 
able to subdue in detail the divided tribes living upon these 
streams. Thus gaining courage and skill by constant victories, 
they boldly pushed their conquest into remote sections of our 
country. The British ordnance maps published during the col- 
onial period, make the boundaries of their control extend from 
the coast line of the Atlantic to the Mississippi river and from the 
great lakes to the centre of the present state of North Carolina, 
There is no instance in history where a region so vast has been 
conquered by numbers so small. Their alliance with the British 
government was one of the grounds on which the latter con- 
tested the claims of the French to the interior of our continent, 
by virtue of its discovei-ies on the St. Lawrence and Mississippi. 
Thus the victories gained by the Iroquois, through their geo- 



10 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

graphical position, had a great influence in deciding the ques- 
tion, whether the civilization of North America should be French 
or English in its aspects, laws and customs. 

It is a remarkable fact, that with a view of overcoming the 
British power on this continent, nearly a century before the 
campaign of Burgoyne, its plan was forecast by Frontenac, 
the ablest of the French colonial commanders. He proposed 
to move against the colony of New York by the same routes 
followed by the British forces in 1777. He was to lead his 
army through the valley of Lake Champlain and Upper Hudson 
to Albany. At that point he designed to seize vessels to pass 
down the river, and there to act with the French ships of war, 
which were to meet him in the harbor of New York. Nothing 
can show more clearly the strategic importance of the valley 
in which we meet, than the fact that he -urged this movement 
for the same reasons which led the British king to adopt it 
after the lapse of so many years. Frontenac saw that, by gain- 
ing control of the course and outlet of the Hudson, the French 
would command the gateway into the interior, that they would 
divide the British colonies, and New England thus cut off, 
would, in the end, fall into the .hands of the French. He also 
urged that in this way the Iroquois would be detached from 
the English alliance. 

The influence of the valleys of our country has not been lost 
in the wars of our day. " We should have won our cause," 
said Governor Wise, a distinguished leader of the Southern con- 
federacy, " had not God made the rivers which spring from the 
highlands of New York, to flow from the north to the south, 
thus making by their valleys, pathways for armies into all parts 
of our territories. Had their courses been in other directions, 
their streams would have made barriers against Northern armies 
instead of giving avenues by which they could assail us." Nor 
have they been less controlling in peace than in war. They 
make the great channels of commerce between the east and the 
west, and enable us to draw to the seaboard the abundant har- 
vest of the valley of the Mississippi, and to send them to the far 
off markets of Europe. Numerous and varied as have been the 
movement of armies along these watercourses, even they sink 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 11 

into insignificance compared with the vast multitudes which 
have poured through them from Europe and the Atlantic coast 
to fill the west with civilized states. Through them we draw 
armies of immigrants, prisoners of peace captured from Europe 
by the strength of the inducements held out to them by the 
material and political advantages of our country. 

We are in our day the witnesses of a greater movement of the 
human race, both as to numbers and influence upon civilization, 
than is recorded in past history. It can tell of no such con- 
tinued and great transfer of population from one continent to 
another. Unlike other invasions, it does not bring war and ra- 
pine, but it bears peaceful arts and civilization into vast regions 
heretofore occupied by scanty tribes of warring savages. Fa- 
miliar with this great movement, we are prone to look upon it 
with some degree of indifference. But through the centuries 
to come it will be regarded as one of the greatest events in the 
history of mankind. 

1 have not dwelt upon these hills and valleys merely because 
they have been the scenes of the most dramatic and important 
events in American annals, but because they have given birth 
to these events. I have spoken of them, not because they have 
been associated with history, but because they have made his- 
tory. They gave to tlie Iroquois their power ; they directed 
the course and determined the result of the war between France 
and Britain for domination on this continent. Neither the sur- 
render of the British army on these grounds, the causes which 
preceded nor the consequences which flowed from it, can be 
appreciated until the enduring influences of the great features 
of our country are clearly brought into view. Elsewhere rivers 
and mountains mark the lines which make enemies of mankind. 
Here they form the avenues which bind us together by inter- 
course. They give not merely to a country, but almost to our 
whole continent, a common language, customs and civilization. 
The world has never before seen a social structure with founda- 
tions so broad. Time may make many changes, but there will 
ever be a unity in the population of North America, a commu- 
nity of interests upon a grander scale than has yet been seen 
among mankind. He who studies the map of our continent and 
3 



12 Addkess of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

doubts this, does not merely lack political faith, but is guilty of 
impiety when he closes his eyes to the truths which God has 
written by streams and valleys, upon the face of this continent. 

It was the design of the British government in the campaign 
of 17*77 to capture the center and stronghold of this command- 
ing system of mountains and valleys. It aimed at its very 
heart — the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson. The 
fleets, the armies, and the savage allies of Britain were to fol- 
low their converging lines to Albany. Its position had made 
that city the place where the governoi-s and agents of the 
colonies had been used to meet with reference to their com- 
mon interest. Here the agents of the New England and 
southern provinces came to consult with the chiefs of the 
Iroquois, and to gain their alliance in their wars with the 
savages of the west, who threatened the European settle- 
ments. In the expressive language of the Indians, Albany was 
called the " Ancient Place of Treaty." It was also the point at 
which the military expeditions against the French at the north 
and west were organized. Even before Benjamin Franklin 
brought forward his plan at Albany for colonial union, the idea 
of such alliance was constantly suggested by the necessity of 
common action in attack or defence against savage or civilized 
enemies. 

There was much to justify the boastful confidence of the 
British that they could thus crush out American resistance. 
To feel the full force of this threatened blow, we must forget 
for a time our present power ; we must see with the eyes of 
our fathers, and look at things as they stood a century ago. 
The care with which the army of Burgoyue was organized, its 
oflicers and men selected, and its material for an advance and 
attack provided, has been made familiar to our people by this 
year's addresses. The progress of the British navy up the Hud- 
son to a point west of the Alleghany range, its seizure in its 
course of Stony Point and Fort Clinton, its success in forcing a 
passage through the highlands at West Point, the capture and 
burning of Kingston, where the Britith admiral awaited commu- 
nication from Burgoyne, have all been clearly narrated on the 
pages of history. Had the commander of the expedition gone 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 13 

to Albany he might have saved the army of Burgoyne. Gene- 
ral Gates saw if this had been done he would have been forced 
to retreat into New England. But it was not known at the 
time how great a peril was averted by an act of negligence in 
the British war department. It appears that orders were pre- 
pared, but not sent to General Howe, directing him to cooperate 
with Burgoyne with all his forces. If this had been done, there 
is reason to fear the result would have been fatal to our cause. 
This is one of those strange occurrences I'ecognized in the lives 
of individuals as well as in the affairs of nations, showing that- 
there is an over-ruling Providence that watches over both. 

The importance of the movement from the west by St. 
Leger and his Indian allies is not generally understood by our 
people. It was made with confidence of success : and when its 
commander wrote to Burgoyne that he would be able to sweep 
dowiT the valley of the Mohawk and place himself in the rear 
of the American army, there was much to justify that confi- 
dence. The address of Mr. Roberts and others, at the Oriskany 
celebration, are valuable contributions to the history of St. 
Leger's invasion. The Palatines who inhabited the valley of 
the Mohawk were, by their position, language and usages, 
severed from the body of the American colonies. The wise 
policy of Sir William Johnson had done much to attach them 
to the British crown. To enable them to worship God in ac- 
cordance with their own creed and in the faith of that part of 
Germany from which they came, aid was given to them for 
the erection of churches for their use. Many of these were 
strong stone churches, which were afterwards fortified and used 
as places of refuge and defence during the Revolution by the 
families of the settlers against the ruthless warfare of savages. 
Most of these churches still stand, monuments of the past, and 
- are now used for the sacred purposes for which they were built. 
The heirs and representatives of Sir William were with the 
army of St. Leger, and assured him that the dwellers upon the 
Mohawk would respond to their appeals, and rise in arms to 
uphold the cause of the crown. No stronger proof can be given 
that the love of liberty and of democratic principles were en- 
gendered and born uj^on our soil and not imported in some 



14 History of the 

The Burgoyne Campaign ; an address delivered on the battle-field on 
the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of Bemis Heights, Sept. 19th, 
1877, by John Austin Stevens. 

History of Saratoga and the Burgoyne Campaign of 1777 ; an address 
by Gen. Edvrard F. Bullard. 

An address to the American people in behalf of a monument, to be 
erected in commemoration of the American army at Saratoga, under Gens. 
Schuyler, Gates, Arnold and Morgan, Oct. 17th, 1777, by J. C. Markham. 

Leading industrial pursuits of Glen's Falls, Sandy Hill and Fort 
Edward, by J. S. Buckley. 

A silver half dollar coin of George III, dated 1777, and one of the 
United States, dated 1877, deposited by Alanson Welch, president of the 
village of Schuylerville. 

Memorial of the opening of the New York and Canada railway, pre- 
sented by Edward F. Bullard. 

Song, commemorative of the surrender of Burgoyne, arranged by Co). B. 
C. Butler, of Luzerne, N. Y. 

Annual Report of the canal commissioner.^ of the state of New York. 

Records of Schuyler Lodge, No. 176, F. and A. M., and Home Chapter, 
No. 176, R. A. M. 

A photograph of the monument from the architect's drawing. 

The cards of John and Samuel Mathews, and E. F. Sinmions, the opera- 
tive masons who built the foundation, base and corner stone of the monu- 
ment. 

The architects' statement of the progress of the work of building the 
foundation, base and corner stone. Daniel A. Bullard in charge. 

Prospectus of the Bennington Battle Monument Association ; a forth- 
coming volume on the Bennington centennial of the week of the 16th of 
August, 1877. 

A pamphlet containing a statement of the Bennington Historical 
Society, and an account of the battle of Bennington, by ex-Gov. Hiland 
Hall, published in March, 1877. 

The Standard (daily), Schuylerville ; The Saratoga County Stand- 
ard (weekly), Schuylerville ; daily Saratogian, Saratoga Sun ; Troy 
Daily Press, Daily Press, Daily Whig, Northern Budget, Observer. Sunday 
Trojan, Troy, N. Y.; Argus, Press, Express, Journal, Times, Post, Albany, 
N. Y.; Herald, Times, Tribune, Sun, World, Express, New York city. 



Sakatoga Monument Association. 15 

The exercises which followed the laying of the corner stone, 
were of a high order of literary excellence, and fully in keep- 
ing with the august celebration which they were intended to 
commemorate. They were conducted in the following order: 

First Grand Stand. 

Music, Doring's Band. 

Prayer, Rev. Rufus W. Clark, D.D., of Albany, Chaplain. 

Music. 

Introductory address by the President of the Day, 
Hon. Charles S. Lester. 

Music. 

Oration by Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour. 

Oration by George William Curtis. 

Music. 

Poem, by Alfred B. Street, 

Read by Col. E. P. Howe. 

Music. 

Address by Hon. Lafayette S. Foster. 

Second Grand Stand, 

Music, Colt's Army Band, Hartford, Conn. 

Prayer, Rev. F. E. King, of P'ort Edward, N, Y., Chaplain. 

Music. 

Litroductory address, Hon. Geo. W. Schuyler (in the absence 
of Gen. Edward F. Bullard), President of the Day. 

Music. 

Historical address by William L. Stone. 

Address by Hon. B, W. Throckmorton, of New Jersey, 
Subject, Arnold. 



16 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

them for assistance in bis movements against the French on the 
Ohio river, and claimed that he went forth to fight for their 
riglits, because the French were occupying territories which 
belonged to the Iroquois. Only twenty years before the re- 
volutionary Avar, the British ministry insisted in its correspond- 
ence with the French government, that the Iroquois were the 
owners, by conquest, of the Ohio territory, and that they were 
the subjects of the British crown. This was the claim set up 
against the French rights of discovery. It is a remarkable fact, 
that the French did not deny the right of conquest by the 
Iroquois, but denied that they were the subjects of Britain in 
these strong words : " Certain it is that no Englishman durst, 
without running the risk of being massacred, tell the Iroquois 
that they are the subjects of England." One of the first acts 
of the continental congress was "designed to secure the alliance 
of the Six Nations. In this they were unsuccessful, except as to 
the Oneidas. The cooperation of their savage allies was deemed 
of the u|;most importance by the British. 

I do not speak of the action at Bennington nor of the battle 
of Bemis's Heights. The late celebration upon the grounds 
upon which they took j)lace, have made the public familiar with 
all their aspects and results. 

INFLUENCE OF BURGOYNe's SURRENDER. 

France saw that upon the very theatre of war where Britain 
had wrested from it the control of this continent, its ancient 
enemy had been beaten by the new power which was springing 
into existence. To the French government this victory had a 
significance that no like victory could have had upon other fields. 
It knew better than others the commanding featiires of this 
region. Its missionaries were highly educated men, who marked 
with care the character of our mountains, lakes and streams. 
Impelled by religious zeal and devotion to the interests of their 
native land, they boldly pushed into the remote portions of the 
continent in advance of commercial enterprise or military expe- 
ditions. Their narratives are to this day of great value and 
interest. The surrender of Burgoyne had also a marked eflFect 
upon the tone and policy of the British cabinet ; it no longer 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 17 

fought for conquest, but for compromise. Its armies were 
moved with a view of saving a part if it could not hold all of 
its jurisdiction. It was able to take possession of the principal 
cities, but it could not lind elsewhere positions, like that aimed 
at by Burgoyne, which would enable it to sunder and paralyze 
the patriot forces. It exhausted its armies in campaigns which 
produced no results, even when successful in repulsing our forces 
or in occupying the points at which they were directed. Its 
commanders were animated by only one gleam of hope. The 
proud power which at the outset called upon the world to witness 
its strength in crushing rebellion, stooped to dealings with a 
traitor, and sought to gain by corruption what it covild not gain 
by force. The treason of Arnold excited the deepest feelings, 
because the loss of West Point, the key of the Hudson, would 
have given the British a position from which they could not 
have been dislodged at the center of the strongholds of defence 
and the commanding basis for attack of the Hudson and its 
guardian mountains. The fact that the loss of West Point 
would have been deemed a fatal blow to the American cause 
places the strategic importance of this region in the strongest 
light. 

The surrender of Burgoyne not only gave new hojie to the 
patriots, but it exerted a moral influence upon our soldiers. The 
colonists up to that time had been trained in the belief that 
British soldiers were irresistible. To hold them superior to all 
others in arms had been American patriotism. Through the 
century of the P^'rench wars, precedence had always been yielded 
to the officers of the crown ; and the colonists looked mainly to 
the British army to protect their homes from invasion. Colonial 
papers showed an exti-avagance of loyalty which is frequently 
exhibited in the outlying and exposed settlements of all nations. 
The Revolution, while it made a revulsion of feeling, did not at 
the outset destroy this sense of the superior skill and power of ^ 
British arms. The early engagements in the open fields had not 
been fortunate for the patriot cause. The armies of the crown 
were still buoyed up by that sense of superiority, which, in itself, 
is an element in martial success. Burgoyne did not doubt his 
ability to destroy any army he could reach. The battle of 



18 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

Berais's Heights was a fair and open contest on equal terms. 
In strategy, in steadiness, in valor, the continental troops proved 
themselves in all ways equal to the picked and trained men 
against whom they fought. 

From the day that victory was M'"on, the American soldier 
felt himself to be the equal of all who could be brought against 
him, and he knew that he was animated by higher and nobler 
purposes than those which moved the ranks of his enemies. The 
whole spirit of the contest was changed. Our armies reajjed a 
double triumph on this field. There was much in the contempt 
which had been shown by their enemies of their qualities as 
soldiers, much in the taunts and sneers of the British cabinet, 
much in the pillage and destruction which ever attend the march 
of invading armies, to excite the victors to exhibitions of triumph 
over fallen foes. But they bore themselves, not as men intoxi- 
cated by successful fortunes in war, but as men who felt it was 
in^.them to win victories there or elsewhere. There was a calm- 
ness in the hour of triumph, which more than even courage upon 
the battlefield, impressed the defeated army with the character 
of those of whom they had spoken so contemptuously. The 
enemy were twice conquered, and in many ways the last victory 
over them was most keenly felt. The moral and the military 
advantages of the surrender of the British army was marred by 
no act which lessened the dignity of the conquerors. And he 
who reads the story of the contest, finds himself most triumphant 
in his feelings over the moral rather than the martial victory. 

GENERAL SCHUYLER. 

When we read the story of the event which we now celebrate, 
whether it is told by friend or foe, there is one figure which 
rises above all others upon whose conduct and bearing we love 
to dwell. There is one who won a triumph which never grows 
dim. One who gave an example of patient patriotism unsur- 
passed on the pages of history. One who did not, even under 
cutting wrongs and cruel suspicions, wear an air of martyrdom, 
but with cheerful alacrity served where he should have com- 
manded. It was in a glorious spirit of chivalrous courtesy with 
which Schuyler met and ministered to those who had not only 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 19 

been enemies in arms, but who had inflicted upon him unusual 
injuries unwarranted by the laws of war. But there was some- 
thing more grand in his service to his country than even this 
honor which he did to the American cause, by his bearing upon 
this occasion. The spirit of sectional prejudice which the British 
cabinet relied upon to prevent cordial cooperation among the 
colonies, had been exhibited against him in a way most galling 
to a pure patriot and a brave soldier. But, filled with devotion 
to his country's cause, he uttered no murmur of complaint, nor 
did he for a moment cease in his labors to gain its liberties. 
This grand rebuke to selfish intriguers and to honest prejudices 
did much to discomfit the one and to teach the other the injustice 
of their suspicions and the unworthiness of sectional prejudices. 
The strength of this rebuke sometimes irritates writers who 
cannot rise above local prejudices, and they try to lessen the 
public sense of his virtue by reviving the attacks, proved to be 
unjust upon investigation, and which, by the verdict of men 
honored by their county, were proved to be unfounded. The 
judgment of George Washington and of the patriots who sur- 
rounded him, with regard to men of their own day and affairs 
with which they were familiar, cannot be shaken by those who 
seek to revive exploded scandals and imfounded suspicions. 
The character of Gen. Schuyler grows brighter in public regard. 
The injustice done him by his removal from his command, at a 
time when his zeal and ability had placed victory almost within 
his reach, is not perhaps to be regretted. We could not well 
lose from our history his example of patriotism and of personal 
honor and chivalry. We could not spare the proof which his 
case furnishes, that virtue triumphs in the end. We would not 
change, if we could, the history of his trials. For we feel that 
they gave luster to his character, and we are forced to say of 
Gen. Schuyler that, while he had been greatly wronged, he had 
never been injured. 

SARATOGA MONUMENT. 

The association formed under the laws of this state to erect a 
suitable monument to commemorate the defeat of the Bi-itish 
army under Burgoyne, has selected this spot upon which to 
4 



20 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

place it, because here it will recall to the mind not only the final 
act, but every event which led to the surrender. It will carry 
the thoughts of him who looks upon it back to the first and fierce 
fight at Oriskany. It will remind him of the disaster to the 
British forces at the battle of Bennington. It will excite the 
deepest interest in the contest on the hills at Bemis's Heights. 
It will do more. It will bring before the public mind that grand 
procession of events, which for two centuries have passed through 
the valleys of the Hudson and the Mohawk. When it shall 
excite the interests which attach to the occasion which we cele- 
brate linked history will lead the public mind back, step by step, 
to the earliest period of the French and English settlements on 
this continent. We shall be taught what made the savage tribes 
of this region superior in war and polity to their kindred races. 
We shall be reminded of the forays of savages, the march of 
disciplined armies, the procession of Christian missionaries, which 
exceed in dramatic interest and in far reaching consequences, 
all other incidents of war, of diplomacy, and of religious zeal 
exhibited on this continent. The events which have occurred 
in these valleys have also been closely connected with the most 
important facts of European history. The ambition of Louis 
the fourteenth of France aimed at supremacy on two continents. 
The prolonged war over the balance of power in Europe, con- 
cerned the civilization of America. The genius of Marlborough, 
and the victory of Blenheim, were of more enduring consequence 
to us than to the parties engaged in tlie contest. They did not 
foresee that they were shaping the civilization of a continent, or 
the destinies of a people at this day exceeding in numbers the 
united populations of the countries engaged in the war. Where 
else in our country can a monument be placed, from which will 
radiate so much that is instructive ? Where else can a struct- 
ure be erected which will teach such varied history ? Elsewhere, 
great achievements in peace or war, make certain spots instinct 
with interest. Elsewhere, the great features of nature have 
influenced the fate of nations. But it is not time that elsewhere 
mountains and rivers have been such marked and conspicuous 
agents in shaping events. Here they have directed the affairs 
of this continent. In selecting a place where a monument should 



Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 21 

stand, this association has not been embarrassed by any questions 
as to the comparative importance of the act of surrender of the 
British army, or of the battles which made that surrender in- 
evitable. Each has its peculiar interest^ and each should be 
marked by suitable monuments. But the last scene in the drama 
mifolds to the mind the plot and incidents which reach their 
conclusions at the close. A monument on this ground not only 
commemorates what occurred here, but it recalls to the mind all 
the incidents and battles which preceded it, and gives to each a 
deeper interest, than when they are considered separately. Each 
is viewed not only in the light of the wisdom, valor or patriotism 
displayed, but of its bearing upon the grand result. He who 
visits the scene of the bloody fight at Oriskany, or looks over 
the hills where the men of Vermont drove back the troops of 
Burgoyne, or studies the movements of the armies at the battle 
of Bemis's Heights, finds that his thoughts do not rest until they 
dwell upon the grand conclusion reached upon this spot. When 
his mind is kindled with patriotic pride upon either of the battle- 
fields to which I have alluded, he will turn to the ground upon 
which we now meet, and thank God for the event we now cele- 
brate. 

The surrender of Burgoyne marks the dividing line between 
two conditions of our country : the one the colonial period of 
dependence, and the other the day from which it stood full 
armed and victorious here, endowed with a boldness to assert 
its independence, and endowed with a wisdom to frame its 
own system of government. From this review of the past we 
instinctively turn our minds and try to scan the years that 
are to come. It is not given to us to forecast the future. But 
when we study the great natural features of our country, and 
see how they have directed the past, we learn from the silver 
links of rivers and the rocky chains of mountains that God has 
written and stamped on the face of this continent, that it shall 
ever be held by those speaking a common language, with a 
common civilization, and living together with that freedom of 
intercourse which shall forever, under some forms, make them 
one people. 

A monument upon this spot will not merely minister to local 



22 Address of Hon. Horatio Seymour. 

pride ; it will not foster sectional prejudices ; every citizen of 
every state of this union will feel as he looks upon it that he 
has a right to stand upon this ground. It will tell of the com- 
mon sacrifices and common trials of the fathers of the republic. 
Men from all parts of our union will here be reminded that our 
independence as a people was wrought out by the sufferings and 
sacrifices of those who came from every quarter of our country 
to share in this valley in the perils of battle and in the triumphs 
of victory. Here sectiona-l passions will fade away ; and the 
glorious memories and the fraternal feelings of the past will be 
revived. 

We are told that during more than twenty centuries of war 
and bloodshed, only fifteen battles have been decisive of lasting 
results. The contest of Saratoga is one of these. From the 
battle of Marathon to the field of Waterloo, a period of more 
than two thousand years, there was no martial event which had 
a greater influence upon human affairs than that which took 
place on these grounds. Shall not some suitable structure recall 
this fact to the public mind ? Monuments make as well as mark 
the civilization of a people. Neither France, nor Britain, nor 
Germany, could spare the statues or works of art which keep 
alive the memories of patriotic sacrifices or of personal virtues. 
Such silent teachers of all that ennobles men, have taught their 
lessons through the darkest ages, and have done much to save 
society from sinking into utter decay and degradation. If 
Greece or Rome had left no memorials of private virtues or 
public greatness, the progress of civilization would have been 
slow and feeble. If their crumbling remains should be swept 
away, the world would mourn the loss, not only to learning and 
arts, but to virtue and patriotism. It concerns the honor and 
welfare of the American people, that this spot should be marked 
by some structure which shall recall its history, and animate all 
who look upon it by its grand teachings. No people ever held 
lasting power or greatness, who did not reverence the virtues 
of their fathers, or who did not show forth this reverence by 
material and striking testimonials Let us, then, build here a 
lasting monument, which shall tell of our gratitude to those 
who, through suffering and sacrifice, wrought out the independ- 
ence of our country. 



